The invention relates to improvements in garments, particularly for use as rainwear or as protective garments in hospitals, chemical plants, nursing homes, convalescent homes, beauty salons, homes or apartments and many other establishments. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in garments which can be obtained by conversion of blanks having two panels or layers of flexible sheet material, such as metallic or plastic foil, textile material, paper or the like.
Commonly owned European Pat. No. 0 235 556 granted Jan. 16, 1991 to Edith Bachor discloses a protective garment which can be obtained by converting a twin-layer or twin-panel blank of foil or non-woven textile material. As a rule, the material is a metallic or a plastic foil which can be welded by the application of heat and/or pressure. However, the patented garment can also consist of any one of a plurality of different textile materials, particularly those made of plastic filaments and/or spunbonded materials. The blank which is to be converted into the patented garment constitutes a length of flattened hose or tube and has two tubular portions which can constitute the leggins of a garment to be used as overalls or trousers, or the sleeves of an article of clothing to be used as a pullover, jacket or vest. By sealing a transversely extending marginal portion of the blank which is adjacent the free ends of the tubular portions, the blank can be converted into a garment with sleeves or leggins which are closed at their free ends. If the blank is converted into overalls with leggins having closed free ends, the material of the overalls is stretched when the wearer is in motion, i.e., the length of the leggins increases and the crotch of the overalls descends so that it is ultimately likely to interfere with movements of the legs. This can be defined as a so-called sleeper or bunny pajamas effect. Attempts to reduce the likelihood of undesirable downward migration of the crotch include the utilization of a belt or sash. However, a belt or sash must be produced in a separate operation which contributes to the cost of the protective garment.
Swiss Pat. No. 540 019 granted Aug. 15, 1973 to Wolfgang Patzold et al. discloses an apron made of a blank having a lower marginal portion which can be separated to form a sash or belt which is applied around the waist of the wearer of the apron.
Disposable protective garments of plastic foil or the like are often obtained by converting rectangular blanks which adhere to each other end-to-end along rows or lines of weakened portions which must be destroyed in order to separate a blank from the neighboring blank. The blanks form a long row or strip which is normally convoluted onto a core to form a roll containing a large number of blanks and occupying a relatively small amount of space in storage or during transport. If the blanks are converted into aprons of the type disclosed in the Swiss patent to Patzold et al., the separable marginal portions are located between neighboring blanks and are likely to be separated with wrong blanks, i.e., a blank which is separated from the neighboring blank can be detached in such a way that its marginal portion (which is intended to be converted into a sash) continues to adhere to the neighboring blank. Thus, it can happen that a particular blank does not carry a separable sash but the neighboring blank is provided with two sashes. Moreover, the length of the sash which is to be formed in accordance with the teaching of the Swiss patent does not suffice to form a sash or belt of requisite length. This can create problems when the protective garment is to be applied over a regular garment or if the protective garment is to be worn by a corpulent person.